


Reconnections

by Katuary



Series: Choice and Chance [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, F/M, Family Feels, Getting to Know Each Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22107595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katuary/pseuds/Katuary
Summary: "Evelyn turned at the sound of Cullen's voice. There was a small gazebo on the western edge of the garden, and he and Dorian were seated there playing chess. He sounded...happy. And very satisfied with himself besides. That was a welcome change from the last time they'd spoken. "A friendly chess game while settling in at Skyhold.
Relationships: Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, Female Mage Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford
Series: Choice and Chance [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445449
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Reconnections

Evelyn swore she would never get used to Skyhold. It felt like miles of twisting passageways and battlements. She'd wound up lost and wandering the kitchens twice that day alone. Thankfully, the cook had cut her lecture short when she realized she was speaking to the Inquisitor. 

Inquisitor. Right.

This was all technically hers: the fortress, the armies, and, most harrowing, the _choices._ She'd been bombarded with decisions from the moment she stepped down from her...coronation? _Do you still call it that if you're not royalty?_ It hardly mattered.

For the love of the Maker, Varric had introduced her to the _Champion of Kirkwall._

It was too much all at once. So, in the chaos of the Inquisition's workers repairing the castle and in absence of an assignment to travel on, she wandered. 

She found herself in the small garden near the war room, trailing her fingers along tendrils of elfroot and embrium. They didn't have much planted yet, but some of the more useful healing herbs had overgrown the area when they arrived. A boon, considering how many of their number were injured at Haven. She would have to ask if they could spare the resources to expand the herb garden. Or...order it? How far did her responsibilities carry, exactly? She needed to speak with Josephine again, maybe bring a tablet of her own to write notes this time. If only she didn't have to learn everything at once, she could concentrate better. _Focus_ better. If the people knew just how scatterbrained their newly anointed leader was, they'd wish they'd chosen someone else...

"Gloat all you like. I have this one."

Evelyn turned at the sound of Cullen's voice. There was a small gazebo on the western edge of the garden, and he and Dorian were seated there playing chess. He sounded...happy. And _very_ satisfied with himself besides. That was a welcome change from the last time they'd spoken. 

_I can endure it._

She would go the library again tonight. Just because he felt well today didn't mean he didn't need anything from her. 

Evelyn approached the pair as Dorian gestured derisively at Cullen.

"Are you... _sassing_ me, Commander?" he said, "I didn't know you had it in you."

She could practically feel Cullen’s likely eye roll as he leaned down to consider the board. “Why do I even—“ He startled upright the moment he noticed her, half rising out of his chair as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. “Inquisitor.”

She crossed her arms and tried not to grimace at the title. Had he ever called her by her name? 

Dorian wasn’t so easily distracted. “Leaving are you?” he taunted with a bright smirk, “Does this mean I win?”

Cullen sank hesitantly back into his chair and Evelyn smiled faintly. She waved them off, “Please. Don’t stop on my account.”

“All right.” Cullen steepled his hands and stared back at the game. “Your move.”

Evelyn kept her face neutral as she watched. Cullen had set a trap, made his king look vulnerable, while leaving a vigil of rooks and bishops ready at the far side of the board. If Dorian took the bait...

”You need to come to terms with my inevitable victory,” Dorian said with a smirk, falling directly into the trap, “You’ll feel much better.” Evelyn bit her lip to restrain a laugh.

”Really?” Cullen smirked and finished the move. “Because I just won. And I feel fine.”

Dorian scoffed, “Don’t get smug. There will be no living with you.” 

He left, and Cullen turned back to Evelyn with a smile. “I should return to my duties as well...unless you would care for a game?” He gestured at the table and she was temporarily thrown by the easy way he held himself, the challenging smirk still on his lips. If this would keep him happy a while longer, there was only one answer.

Besides, she’d win.

She smiled and took Dorian’s seat. “Prepare the board, Commander.”

Chess was one of the few unobjectionable activities for a mage insomniac to practice in a Circle bedroom. She was something of a self-taught expert.

"As a child, I played this with my sister," Cullen mused as they reset the board, "She would get this stuck-up grin whenever she won--which was _all_ the time. My brother and I practiced together for weeks. The look on her face the day I finally won..." The smile dropped abruptly from his face and he leaned back in his chair. "Between serving with the templars and the Inquisition, I haven't seen them in years. I wonder if she...still plays."

The way he said that, like he didn't know if he'd _ever_ see them again...no. Evelyn was trying to keep this light. 

"You have siblings?" she asked.

He nodded and leaned forward. "Two sisters and a brother."

"Where are they now?" She made her first move, two spaces for a starting pawn to release one of her bishops. 

"They moved to South Reach after the Blight. I do not write them as often as I should." He blinked at the board, just noticing it had changed. "Ah. It's my turn."

"All right." She nodded and crossed her arms. "Let's see what you've got."

She waited a few turns before she settled on what to say next. 

"With everything that's happening..." she started hesitantly, "do you know if they're all right?"

Cullen shrugged. "I've received word from my eldest sister. She was always good at tracking me down." Tracking him down? _It._ _..sort of sounded like a joke?_ _He must be joking._ "South Reach has experienced the same chaos as everywhere else--my family is fine. Pray they remain so."

"Your sister 'tracked you down'?" Evelyn frowned, absently rubbing her thumb over her knuckles, "She didn't know where you were?"

Another shrug. "I let her know I was in Haven. She assumed I survived. It's not the first time." He paused. "I may have neglected to tell her when I was transferred to Kirkwall."

He had siblings. A sister who was actively concerned for him, who didn't have the resources of a noble family to support her attempts to _find_ him. Why in the world would he wish to hide from someone like that? She would give _anything_ to...

Evelyn tried to push the thought from her mind. This wasn't about her. She cleared her throat and held in every word but one,

"Why?"

"I wasn't in a good state," Cullen replied reluctantly, "I wanted only to leave. I received an angry letter about my 'disappearance' two years later." He smiled ruefully. "For all her reprimands, it was a relief to hear from someone who knew me before the Blight."

Evelyn nodded distantly and made another move. She still hadn't heard from her family...what remained of it. She knew from Josephine that her parents were still alive and in Ostwick. They must have heard about her by now. Her name was being spread across Thedas as the Herald and, now, Inquisitor. Avoiding her had to be deliberate. 

Cullen was saying something. She'd caught none of it. She blinked and felt a rush of heat creep up her throat and cheeks. 

"Sorry," she apologized, "What was that?"

He smiled and moved a piece. Lost her queen's side rook. Damn. "I asked if you had siblings yourself?"

Evelyn froze for an instant before nodding. "I...did. Younger brother. Maxwell. Max. He..." _It would be a better world without your kind holding it hostage._ She cleared her throat. "He died at the Conclave."

Cullen looked stricken. “I...I should have known that. I’m so sorry.”

”I doubt my...” She hated to use the word. It didn’t feel right. “...my family is of much concern for our soldiers.” She smiled faintly. “That’s more Josephine’s business.”

”Still, I shouldn’t...” He fumbled for words, brows furrowed in concern. “Do you want—would it help to talk?”

Evelyn‘s head was spinning far too much to respond immediately, so she took a slow breath and made her next move first. She looked up with a shadow of a smile. “I appreciate it, Cullen. I suppose I...didn’t know him very well. I hadn’t seen him since we were small children.”

“That long?”

“They never visited the Circle. My parents. I don’t know if Max even wanted to. They never even wr—“ She cut herself off and studied the board. She wasn’t here to dredge up bad memories. She was doing an abysmal job keeping their game lighthearted. "Max and I...we used to play at being knights as children. Father had wooden practice swords specially commissioned so we'd stop jabbing each other with sticks. He used to do the most ridiculous thing. This kind of odd _spinning_ move where he--" She laughed softly, shaking her head apologetically. "It's hard to describe without seeing it."

Cullen smiled teasingly and settled one arm over the back of his chair, "I suppose that means you'll have to demonstrate."

She knew he was humoring her, allowing her to avoid the earlier turn of their conversation. She was more than grateful. Evelyn smiled. "If you insist. Bear in mind this is _supposed_ to look ridiculous."

And sweet Maker, she _felt_ ridiculous getting out of her seat to show him the silly sparring move. His intense focus on her didn’t help.

"So," she said, holding an imaginary sword in front of her, "He'd start like this, then tuck his arms in and..." She tucked her elbows near her ribs and performed the world's slowest shuffling spin, finally whacking an invisible opponent with her imaginary sword. 

Cullen snorted. "Impressive."

"Well, he _was_ five. If it makes it better, he called it his 'sneak attack'." She smiled and sat back down. "Oh! It's my turn, isn't it?"

"It has been, yes." He smirked. "But take your time. You may end up showing me something to teach my men."

"Sarcasm?" She smiled sweetly and took one of his knights with a neglected pawn. "I see Dorian's been rubbing off on you."

He wrinkled his nose and nudged the offending pawn off the board with his queen. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Are you calling me a bad influence?”

He chuckled. “No. I’m _hoping_ you’re the voice of reason.”

He had a nice laugh. Deep, soft, and warm. She couldn’t remember hearing it so often before.

Evelyn considered her next move in companionable silence until Cullen spoke again.

”This may be the longest we’ve gone without discussing the Inquisition—“ he said, “—or related matters. To be honest, I...appreciate the distraction.”

So did she. They hadn't had much opportunity to talk since Haven. She missed those long nights in the chantry. Evelyn made her move and smiled. “We should spend more time together.”

"I would...like that." The tenderness of his half smile astonished her. She forgot what she meant to say, and wound up repeating her sentiment instead,

"Me too."

He looked down at the board, unfocused. His voice lowered to a register she could hardly hear, "You said that." He seemed lost in his disbelief for a moment before he returned to himself. "We should...finish our game. Right? My turn?"

It was difficult to focus on the remainder of the game, but she continued playing as before. Setting traps and watching with satisfaction as he fell into them. She suspected he was going easy on her; perhaps playing this way would convince him to challenge her fully next round.

"I believe this one is yours," he admitted, leaning back again. "Well played. We shall have to try again sometime."

Evelyn smiled. It wasn't necessary to capture his king after she'd already won, but she flicked it over with her knight anyway. "Anytime you want your dignity back."

He rolled his eyes in mock irritation and made to rise from his seat, but she stopped him before she could second guess herself.

"Cullen. I...I know it's not my place, but..." She recovered from her floundering and met his eyes. "I would...encourage you to write your sister. With everything that's happening, I hardly blame her for worrying."

He considered her for a moment, frowning, before he inclined his head and rose. "You're right. I...you're right. I will."

She stood and smiled weakly. "You're lucky to have someone care so much for you."

"Thank you, Inquisitor."

"Evelyn. Please. I mean..." She grimaced. She was being presumptuous. "...could I ask you to use my name? When we...when it's only the two of us--and we're not doing something for the Inquisition--I mean."

"I...Evelyn." He gave her an achingly soft smile. She couldn't help but return it. "Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> "Oh no! He feels bad! I'll try and keep his mind off of it..."  
> "Oh no! She feels bad! I'll try and keep her mind off of it..."  
> Rinse and repeat.
> 
> Alternate title: “Write to your damned sister, Cullen. Some of us aren’t lucky enough to have a sibling like her.”
> 
> I think some of the in game dialogue I included is technically post Perseverance, but it fits with the chess scene, so pfthbt.


End file.
